The National Foundation for Medical Research and Innovation has implemented a strategy focused on supporting gap areas along the innovation pathway for biomedical research.
This targeted support assists researchers to advance their research towards the development of new innovations including medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and devices. These innovations normally require regulatory approval, commercial partnerships and investors as they progress. Learn more.
| Prof Janet Davies |
| Queensland University of Technology |
| Grass Allergies and Asthma |
| Vaccine and Diagnostic |
- Attracted co-sponsorship from potential industry partner, Abionic Switzerland to test the utility of allergens of subtropic Bahia and Bermuda grass pollen to function as an active ingredient in a nanotechnology point-0f-care diagnostic platform
- Research collaborations with ThermoFisher Scientific Sweden, Abionic Switzerland and Stallergenes Greer, France, Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology and Abacus dx
- Dr Davies was promoted to Associate Professor and then Professor
- Recombinant allergens have been optimised and verified by Abionic
- Newly designed, expressed and purified allergen components successfully assessed for quality by mass spectrometry by APAF
| Prof Lenka Munoz |
| University of Sydney |
| Brain Cancer |
| Therapeutic |
Key outcomes:
- The innovation has been licensed to an industry partner.
- Has since attracted more than $7.5M in research funding has been directed towards Prof. Munoz’ lab.
- Since receiving this grant, Lenka has secured tenure and been promoted to Professor.
- Was awarded a $550k development grant (NHMRC) in 2018 for preclinical development of the 2nd generation drug candidates.
- Lin BioScience funding grant, $1,200,000
- NHMRC Ideas grant, $1,100,000
- Substancial IP and out-licensing portfolio of near-oncology therapeutics she developed.
“The funding received from the Foundation came at the right time. We discovered an interesting drug molecule which effectively killed brain cancer cells, without causing toxicity to healthy cells. With the NFMRI funding we were able to delineate its mechanism of action and generate intellectual property, which was recently licensed to an industry partner. We are currently progressing our molecule towards clinical trials, hoping that soon we will be able to offer patients with fatal brain tumours an effective treatment. All this would not be possible without the generous funding received from NFMRI.”
| Prof Bernard Flynn |
| Monash University |
| Inflammatory bowel disease |
| Drug |
Key outcomes:
- Term sheet for a VC-backed seed funding start-up company, $2.5m
- Monash Research Innovation Fund, $50,000
- Monash MIPS incubator investment, $50,000
“After being awarded the Dr. John Raftos AM Medal by NFMRI, Prof Flynn applied the $50,000 prize towards research investigating a potential treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. Despite receiving the funding in 2021, substantial progress is already taking place”
| A/Prof Branka Grubor Bauk |
| The University of Adelaide |
| Zika virus |
| Vaccine |
Key achievements to date:
- Industry collaboration with Vaxxas (Australia)
- Industry support from aVaxzipen (UK)
- Industry collaboration with PharmaJet (CO, USA)
- Collaboration with University of Wisconsin – Madison (WI, USA)
A/Prof Grubor-Bauk has developed an innovative, patented and thermally stable Zika virus DNA vaccine that encodes Zika virus non-structural protein 1, NS1. Extensive evaluation of this vaccine in mouse models of Zika infection has shown that it induces strong immunity and confers complete protection against systemic Zika infection. Funding from NFMRI is helping to progress the development a novel Zika virus vaccine by completing pre-clinical evaluation of this Zika virus DNA vaccine enabling Phase I Human Clinical Trials, and generating data for regulatory filing.
| Prof Michael Good AO & Dr Danielle Stanisic |
| Griffith University |
| Malaria |
| Vaccine |
Key outcomes:
- Collaborating with industry and currently in clinical trials
- Signed an agreement with Statens Serum Institute to provide material for the pre-clinical animal studies
- Leveraged over $1m from Rotary Australia to support clinical trial costs of the study
- Clinical trial has received additional funding of $500,000 from Medical Research Future Fund Accelerated Research initiative
- Private trust funding, $570,000
- Private philanthropic donor, $372,027
- Griffith University funding, $334,968
“The funding provided by NFMRI specifically supported the GMP-compliant manufacturing of the vaccine and enabled additional leveraging of funding from Rotary to support the clinical trial activities as well as additional funding from the Medical Research Future Fund Accelerated Research initiative to enable further optimisation and development of a field-deployable vaccine, suitable for malaria endemic areas.”
| A/Prof Peter van Wijngaarden |
| Centre for Eye Research Australia |
| Alzheimer’s disease |
| Device |
Key outcomes:
- Project has leveraged over $5m in additional funding as a result of the grant
- Spin-off company established, Enlighten Imaging
- Well advanced camera prototype has been developed
- Garnered support from the likes of Bill & Melinda Gates and Jeff Bezos via the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation
- Awarded NHMRC-EU Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Disease (JPND) research grant, $1,400,000
- Received support from BioMedTech Horizons MRFF scheme, $1,000,000
“This funding has enabled us to develop and test several prototypes of our retinal camera. This has been instrumental in our ability to secure additional grant funding and accelerated our progress towards the clinic. In addition, Noel Chambers and his team have provided us with invaluable mentorship and access to some of the leading experts in medical research translation who have generously shared their expertise with us. This know-how has been tremendously helpful to us.“
